"No, my bike's old but my mother got it for me. Mr. Singer, I
have a heads up from the Slayer House in Cleveland. Apparently there's
a major new plot to take out all you hunters." He stared, looking
a bit less friendly. She smiled. "I'm one of the slayers, Mr.
Singer. Our oldest one found out that some demons went to a military
project to find something specific to stop demon hunters. They were
stopped but that doesn't mean the rest of the plot isn't on-going.
She wasn't sure of total facts but she said that we have two out here.
I'm going to find them tonight if you wanted to help me question them.
After all, we were told that we were lucky to have guys like you who did
the same job."

He nodded once. "How are there more than one Slayer right now?"

"Willow had to activate all of us to stop the First Evil a few years
back."

"I see. When are you going?"

She beamed. "Do you want to drive? I drive a junky old compact
car."

He smirked. It was nice of her to ask but handy to have him driving.
Gave him more control over things. "That'd be fine. When?"

"Whenever you're ready. I have to grab a few weapons because I
stupidly didn't have Dawn shrink them for me." She smiled.
"I'll be back in a few hours with the full report she sent?"

"Please." She nodded and walked back to her bike, riding off.
He went back to his job, considering it. There was always a demonic
plan to take hunters out. This one might just get worse since they
had been military. He had no idea what sort of things they could've
gotten into.

***

Xander got back to the US a few months later, shaking his head when
he ran into an agent at the airport. "It's meeting time not an emergency."

"Sir, we have a problem that needs a bit of help beyond that and the
Council said that the hunters could handle it," the agent told him, handing
him a folder. "They could use a lot of help but Buffy was sure they
could handle it."

"She often is. Then she decides they're *normal*." He read
it over, nodding. "Whisk me away, guys." He led him to the
other plane so he could go. He sent a text to Dawn's phone to tell
her he ran into something and was handling it for a few hours. He'd
be late for the meeting tomorrow. The flight wasn't that long.
Thankfully Cleveland was nearer to the Midwest than DC or LA. He
found the pile of demons around a graveyard.

"No," he moaned. He knew what had happened. He had sent
that vision. He called. "Dawn, send me my girls and any of
my girls there to me now. Huge ass sitch that I sent that vision
about." He hung up and the girls appeared with Dawn. He nodded.
"Find the one that made the deal. Fix it." She nodded, jogging
off with one of the slayers she worked well with. The agents got
her to where they were. "Ladies, I think you see the issues."

They nodded and dove in, him backing them up. Yeah, this was not
a happy apocalypse. He found the headstone he had seen in his vision,
kicking it. "The one time I need explosives," he complained.
He looked in his bag, coming up with something. Fire demon snot.
He threw it on the headstone and lit it on fire. It burned hot enough
to melt stone. He made sure it melted and then turned, finding a
higher demon there. "Not playing fair," he sneered.

"Who are you? You're not one of mine," he said. He looked
the boy over. "You seem like a hunter though."

Xander smirked. "I'm the White Knight of Sunnydale." He
saw the horrified look on the agent's face. "Heard that rumor?"

"Yes, sir." He had a lot of respect for this one.

Xander attacked the demon. It tried to jump into him instead but
he had shields thanks to the shaman he had worked with. "Girls,"
he called. They rushed in and one got the demon down. He panted,
pushing it out. "What are you, Voldemort?" he sneered. He killed
him since the girls couldn't kill humans. The demon released the
body. Xander stared at it. "Not done playing with you yet."
Dawn walked up and cast to capture it. "Thanks, Dawn."

He smirked. "The Shaman helped." He looked at the other
girls. "They down?" They nodded. "All of them?"

"A few fled, Xander."

"We'll get 'em later," he decided. He looked at the hunters, staring
at the older one. "Julia Goodwin said she had met you. I sent
her that vision as well." The old guy blanched, nodding. "Welcome."
He pointed at the mess he had made. "It's down. No angelic
apocalypse now." He looked at Dean. "Did she fix the deal?"

"Yeah. Bobby had to stop me from killing her for it, but she did."

"I tried to explain," she said. "It had to be done as soon as
possible." She shrugged. "I nearly knocked you out first instead."

"That would've made me fight," the other said.

She pinched him on the arm. "Now you're both free." She
pointed at the captured demon. "He's there." Dean pulled out
a gun and shot it. The demon died. "Sweet."

Xander looked and nodded. "I could use one of those in Africa."
One of the slayers hugged him, making him hiss. "Ow. Owowow."
She glared at him. "Possessed hyenas." He smirked. Dawn
groaned. "They're free. I had to get them unpossessed.
They tried to take out the girls." He shrugged and winced a bit.
He looked at the hunters again. He snapped his fingers. "Dawn,
card?" She pulled her ID case out of her bra and handed one over.
"If you can't find Julia, call us. This is Dawn. She's one
of our senior witches."

"Cleveland?" Dean demanded. "You guys are in Cleveland?"

"That's where the newest hellmouth is." Dawn grinned. "Not
our fault. The original Council had been Brits and we were in Sunnydale."
Sam shuddered. "Yeah, exactly. Now we're all around."
She smiled at Xander. "You're so getting nagged later."

"You tell your sister and I'm going to spank her too the first time
she tries to tell me it's a slayer's job."

"Good point. Can you?"

"Definitely." He looked at the hunters again. "If you need
us for something huge, call. We do handle apocalypses very well."
He looked at the agent. "Okay, let's....." Dawn brought them
home. "Hey, cool. Bag?"

"I'll get the agent to send it," she promised, going to call that one's
agency to get a message to him. They knew the usual agents who hung
around to 'help them'. "Reports, ladies." They sighed but went
to do that. She did her own once she was off the phone.

Back in North Dakota, the three hunters were looking at each other.
"A whole army of bouncy, female warriors," Dean said. "I always thought
they'd be wearing fantasy chainmail armor."

The agent snorted. "Don't tempt them. A few of them do some
club hunting looking like working girls." He saw the bag and picked
it up. "I'll get this back to Harris." He wrote two numbers
on the back of the card. "That's Harris' cellphone. Sometimes
he's in the US, sometimes in Africa, but the girls actually listen to him
most of the time. The other is the agent who is the official liaison
with the Council if it's something we should know as the government, gentlemen."
He looked at Dean. "He's already fixed that St. Louis thing.
We went to look and found the extra skin. Your records... that was
damn stupid, boys, but effective." He left.

Bobby shook his head. "That's just strange."

"Very," Dean agreed. He put it into his wallet for now.
"Okay...." He looked at the mess then at Bobby. "Now what?"

"Now, we have a beer. We deserve a beer. Sammy, you good?"

"Yeah, she killed him, fixed the injury, restarted him, and the crossroads
demon showed up but got her ass kicked too. She so went off," Dean
assured him, happier now. Sammy was safe, he wasn't going to go to
hell. Things were good. "For some reason the demon was scared
of her."

"It takes a lot of power to do that disappearing thing for one person,"
Bobby said. "I don't know many witches who'd even think about it
outside of an emergency. If she could take all of them, she's
pretty powerful."

"She was kinda cute too," Sam admitted with a grin.

"She was," Dean agreed. "Too young for me though." He shrugged.
"If you want to tap that, hit on the girl. She clearly knows what
we do." They got into their cars and headed for a bar. This
had been too strange. They were happy it was solved but still strange.
They weren't used to the US riding to the rescue.

***

Xander turned around in his shower to rinse off his back, staring at
the woman in the doorway. "Yes?"

"Demons?"

"Hyenas. Possessed and sent after the girls. I could get
them calmed down so we could banish them." He shrugged. "A
few got friendly. One tried to fight." He went back to scrubbing.
If Faith wanted to stare at him, so be it. "How has your tour been?"

"Better than yours. You good with that one dying?"

"No," he said, staring at her. "But I did all I could to save
her. I offered to take her place and they poisoned us instead."
She nodded. "We mourned, did a wonderful service for her."

"Good. She call another one? G wanted to know."

"No."

"That's two now that haven't called a new one." Xander smiled.
"But five have."

"So we need less now. It's evening out." She nodded, handing
him a towel with a smirk. "Thanks, Faith. How was yours?"

"The only good thing I found about mine is part of my route has a few
German bars." She walked off.

Xander got out and dried off, putting on clean clothes and heading down
to the kitchen. He handed Giles his reports since they had been in
his pocket on a keydrive. Giles handed them to his assistant to print
for him. "The reports from earlier done?" he asked.

"Yes, they were. Thank you for that warning as well." He
stared at him. "That vision came here?"

"I faxed a copy here and one to Julia Goodwin. She knew the hunters
involved, that was part of what I saw." He got some juice and sat
down to drink it.

"Did she not get it to them?"

"I think she was trying when she got hit by that possessed driver,"
Xander said. "She probably couldn't find them when she got out of
the hospital. The demon earlier was a higher demon, upper echelon.
The possessing sort." Giles shuddered. "By the way, destroyed
the keystone to their hellgate." He took another drink while Giles
stared at him.

"Good to know." He went to research that topic. If he had
to, he'd talk to those hunters and see if they could take the rest down.

Xander looked at Buffy when she walked in. "Hey."

"Hey. Thank you but you're still not supposed to be in a battle."

"Bite me," he said dryly, staring at her. "I've been in plenty
of battles in Africa and gee, I'm damn good at it still, Buffy."
She scowled. He glared. She backed down from that 'you're normal'
point again. "Other than that, did Dawn tell you they were cute?
Maybe you can introduce yourself so you can have a boyfriend who knows
what you do."

"I might," she agreed with a smile. "Hyenas?"

"Possessed. I calmed them down and banished them. They were
sent after my girls."

"Oh." She nodded. "Did they try to pin you and hurt you?"

"No. One tried to fight for dominance but a fist is more powerful
than claws sometimes." She grimaced, shaking her head. "So,
yearly meeting?"

"Tomorrow. Willow's flying in tonight."

"That's cool. How is she liking there?"

"She's liking it a lot and two girls went to help her. They're
liking it a lot."

"Wonderful." He smiled. "I'm taking nominations for my open
spot."

"I think we're doing a finding this weekend."

"Decent." He finished his juice and put his glass in the dish
washer then followed her to the living room. "Everyone on dates?"

"Most everyone's farmed out to other houses," she said with a smile.
"We only have sixteen girls here in residence."

"Cool." He sat down and stretched out. "Too long on a plane."

"I bet. Must take nearly all day to fly from Africa." He
nodded. "We were thinking that some of the houses need to be rearranged."
He stared at her. "Giles wants to go rebuild the London house.
I was thinking maybe I'd like to take Faith's route for a bit, get some
traveling done."

He considered it, nodding. "That's not a bad idea. Dawn
staying or going?"

"Staying. It's safer to have her here than any of the other houses."

"Cool. Though I'm told we'll have to reestablish the one in DC
after she stopped something but it got her blown up?"

She nodded. "Yeah, that was three months ago," she sighed.
"I don't know who to send to DC."

"Faith." She gaped. "She's not going to have to deal with
the higher ups. She knows how to deal with agents. If not,
Kamria."

"I can see Kamria. I'll ask Faith." She went to do that.
She came back. "Would you take over Cleveland?" He nodded.
"Thanks."

"My girls get Jameson, out of the Brazil house. They respect him
and he knows I'll fuck him up if he hurts them."

"Sure." She went to post those changes and then talk to Faith.
Giles signed off on them by the time she got back. "Kamria to go
to DC. Faith wants here. She said we need a senior here on
call for apocalypses."

"I can agree with that," Giles said, making those notes. "Jameson
will be in for the meeting?"

"I'll make sure." She called the house in Brazil, chatting with
the girls down there. She hung up. "We need a slayer reunion
and picnic thing."

"We can call one this weekend," Xander said. "With the huge bad
we just stopped it'll be quiet."

"Cool." She put out that slayer wide call so they could all fall
back and enjoy some time off. She got hold of those hunters through
Julia too. She wanted to meet them and Giles wanted to talk about
the other hellgates they had to close before they became a problem.

***

Xander smiled as the Impala pulled up, nudging Buffy. "That's
them." She bounced over. He smiled at his girls. "Jameson
is going to take over for me because Buffy wants to leave the hellmouth,"
he told them. They pouted. "You know him, we trained him together."
They nodded. "I'm going to be here. If he wants you girls to
switch off, you can come hang with me and Faith." He moved some hair
off one's cheek. "It'll be cool. He can make ice cream too."
They grinned and pulled him over to talk to him. He noticed Giles
walked over to talk to the young hunters too. "Those two," he said
with a point. "Are hunters. Like I am but they're not Council
aligned."

"Like that guy in South Africa?" Tam asked.

"Yup." They went to talk to them. Buffy was flirting but
they wanted to talk business with them. She could impress them that
way. They drew the boys over to talk to them. All the girls
talked to them. It wasn't often they had cute guys who knew about
hunting near them. Buffy still got in plenty of flirting time.
So did Dawn with the taller one. After the picnic in the park was
done with, Xander walked over to the younger one. "It's not often
they get guys who understand."

"They're nice girls. Very sweet." He grinned. "Dean's
never had that many hit on him before."

"It's cool. Most of them are big girls. I'd only protest
if they're mistreated and I doubt you two would." He clapped him
on the arm. "Coming back to the house? I'm told I'm taking
it over for a bit."

"Sure," he said, looking at Dean, who nodded. The girls
seemed pretty nice and Giles had a library full of books that they wanted
to check out.

***

Xander got called to DC by the president's secretary, so he dressed
up before getting on the plane. He was met at the airport by Kamria.
"What happened?" He hadn't seen her in months, since the picnic.

"A higher up vamped. I called in a warning and was told not to
handle it."

He grimaced. "That's the sucky part of being in DC, the higher
ups." He let her take him to his rental car, she hardly ever drove,
and he took them to the White House. They were let in and he nodded
at the VP since he was waiting. "The higher up that got vamped?"

"There was?" Kamria nodded. "Well, crap. No wonder
Jack had a hair pulling night. No, I'm here over something else.
Some sort of plot to get you guys in trouble."

"Oh, charming," Xander said with a smirk. "Remind me to talk to
a bar later," he told his slayer, who nodded quickly. Jack walked
in with his guards. "Hey, guys. Peter." He got a smile
from one of the guards. "So, this higher up?" he asked Jack.

"Today is not a good day," Jack told him. "The House is looking
at a covert bill to destroy the Council."

"We can move back to England but a few of us will still have to be in
Cleveland, and I'm going to talk to a few former poker buddies later."
He smirked. Jack shuddered. "So, why beyond the demon whores?"

"Possibly but a few are ultra christians," John warned.

Xander looked at him. "You have two demons serving as pages in
Congress." John groaned. "One's time is up in about a week
I think."

Xander smirked. "I heard the sermon." He shuddered because
that televangelist was breathing fire over the fact that demons were real
and 'infecting' their country. "They're in for a world of hurt since
their church is sitting on top of a native burial ground. We can't
stop people if they want to retaliate. I might try but I have bigger
demons to kill than a witch who'd activate that." He looked at the
two heads of the government again, seeing the horrified look. "By
the way, Cheyenne's pretty secure against that, especially with Willow
there."

"Thank you."

"Any idea if they're being influenced by those things that the underground
is deathly worried about? The ones you used to deal with?"

"Snake ones or religious ones?" John asked.

"Either, though I know the head guy is snaked. I got told that."

Jack nodded, making that note. "I'll have him subtly checked.
Thanks, Harris. Her doing that?"

"Last night. It's been on the news today. That's why I didn't
complain too much about coming here today and Faith turned off the ringers
on all the phones but Andrew's."

John laughed. "I figure you guys have had plenty of religious
leaders who hated your people." Xander nodded. "This higher
up?" Jack held up a note. He read it and grimaced. "Just
vamped?" Kamria nodded. "Can we keep them human?"

"A soul restoration spell but only Willow can do them," Xander offered.
"It'd reimplant the soul, which wouldn't mean they couldn't kill but they
might think more about it."

"If you must," he decided. She giggled and pinched him on the
arm. Clearly one of the guards was new because he stiffened and reached
for her. "She's fine," John told him.

Jack looked at the guard. "Are you snaked?"

Xander looked. "Possessed." He threw his vial of holy water
on the guy, making him yelp. "We can banish his later, sir."

"Thanks, Harris." He smirked. "Keep us informed if you guys
start having problems with this attempted act of Congress."

Xander snickered. "That's going to suck since almost all apocalypses
happen in the spring. By the way, I'm hearing rumors that there's
going to be a peaceful demon protest for immigration reform to allow them
asylum and permits."

"Are they going to be open?" John asked. Xander nodded.
"Won't that break the usual silence?"

"It's going to be after this spring." Both slumped, shaking their
heads. Xander snickered. "You guys have that in sync even,
cool." He looked at Kamria. "I believe I sent that to you?"

"I passed it onto the guys in Homeworld." Jack called over there
to chew someone a new one. She turned to look at the possessed guy,
finding two more guards in the doorway. "He's possessed."

"We have the White House chapel if you need it, ma'am."

She nodded. "Cool." She dragged him off no matter how much
he tried to get free. Demons weren't any match for an alpha slayer.
Xander followed, he knew how to banish better than she did. Really,
the demon fled from Xander when he pulled out the holy water bottle they
had in a cabinet. "Still scary, Xander."

Xander grinned. "Yes I am." He left, going to the local demon
bars. She could wait in the car. The whole bar stared.
He smirked. "If whoever is trying to hype this year's apocalypse,
make them stop before we have to go around them. Remember, pouty
slayers shop, guys, and hunt more." They all nodded quickly.
"Which ones are calling in their markers if they don't get us out of the
US?"

"Two of the highest because you blocked their apocalypse," one demon
said. "Not even on the demonic side."

"Huh." He nodded, walking off to find the church they knew was
actually holy in the city. It was a small shrine that *everyone*
in the underground knew about. He walked in and looked around, then
looked at the supposed priest. "Oh, great Fallen one," he said bluntly,
walking up to him. The priest stiffened. "Xander Harris.
I'm in charge of the Council house on the hellmouth." The man shuddered.
"You might tell them that if your side starts the apocalypse, the girls
will still fight. It's their job."

"They won't win against our side, my son."

Xander looked at him. "Any side that claims supremacy is already
evil, Father. Wanting to take out humanity is evil, no matter where
you stand philosophically."

"A slayer....."

"Father, we have more than one slayer." He gaped, shaking his
head. Xander nodded. "We have for years now, since I did CPR.
Or didn't you see the invasion in LA?" He went pale, shaking his
head again. "Yeah. We have more than one slayer, Father.
If they start it, the girls will end it. Permanently. Both
sides if possible but it will be ended. No matter which side starts
it. Don't believe me, go talk to Buffy."

He swallowed. "That is not the way it should be."

Xander smirked. "The Powers hate some of us for doing things that
meant they won by screwing their plans so they worked. Buffy and
me included."

"Oh, dear. She's still alive?"

"Yeah, she's in Germany this week." He bowed his head and nodded.
"I know you have a few friends you can point this out to. You might
also warn them that with the stuff that comes out of a certain program
in Colorado, we're going to need them to help us fight. Unless they
want that pantheon of philosophy to win?" He shook his head.
Xander grinned. "That's why I came to you instead of going somewhere
less...connected."

"How did you know?" Xander let down his possession shields.
"Oh, you know an ascended?"

"Cordelia. I used to date her." He shuddered. Xander
smirked. "Exactly, Father. I'm a Hellmouth baby. The
last one born in Sunnydale. I believe there's a prophecy."
He left him to shudder in private.

***

Dean got a visit that night by a man he didn't know. "Who're you?"

"If the One Who Sees hadn't changed things, you would know me as the
one who rescued you from Hell, Dean Winchester."

Dean nodded. "I'll have to thank him. Why come to me now?"

"There is a prophecy that many wish to come to pass. That the
last Hellmouth Child Born will take over both heaven and hell."

Sam looked up from his laptop. "Xander would never do that.
He's more than content working with the slayers." Dean gave him an
odd look. "Both of those are Xander. The One Who Sees was the
name the First Evil prophecy called him. The other is his name for
the heaven and hell fighting in a final apocalypse prophecy." He
went back to his searching. "By the way, he sent an email saying
that you guys might show up here. That the prophecy said that I might
break the seals." He looked at him. "I have no intention of
it."

"The things that you can do will, Samuel."

Sam nodded. "I'll talk to Dawn about taking that taint from me.
She's been working on it." He grinned. "The Sunnydale team
learned to be proactive over prophecies." Someone slid into the seat
next to him. He looked at her. "Hi."

"Hi," Dean said with a grin.

"Hi." She smirked at the angel. "Say my name," she said.

"You are...." He looked. "Dawn Isabelle Summers."

"Who else am I?"

He stared. Then he scanned her. He gasped and backed away.
"You are not supposed to be in that form!" he said in awe.

"Yeah, exactly. But Glory happened. So I am." She
stared at him. "Should it start, I'll be there. In a way that
will make your boss shudder. For both sides."

"I understand." He nodded at her. "You have much wisdom."

"And I was trained by Xander to be proactive and by my sister to be
a bitch." She grinned sweetly at him. "Any other questions?
Because he also said he pointed something out. There's more than
one slayer now." The angel shook his head. She nodded.
"Yeah, there are. Xander knew CPR." He went to tell the others
that. She looked at Sam. "It's nasty, it'll hurt like a bitch,
but I can get that demon taint out of you."

"Please," he agreed quietly, closing his laptop. "How did you
know?"

"Some of us can feel when the really powerful beings show up.
That's how I know whenever Willow leaves this plane." She took Dean's
beer to sip. "Buffy wanted to know if you wanted a vacation to Germany.
She's trying really hard not to kill the skinheads she ran into."

"I can't do much more than that."

"She needs backed up and if she asks Xander, they're going to be greasy
spots. Africa was bad for his temper sometimes."

He nodded. "I can see that point with their sort. How big?"

"About twenty. Hiding out on top of a hellgate so she's sure it's
going to be an issue."

"Yeah, I can see about getting her some help."

"Killer." She took his keys from him and sent him to her.
She handed Sam the keys. "Here, so you can drive for a few days since
I know he doesn't let you."

He snickered. "He's going to complain to her."

"She said they took a kid hostage earlier and she can't do it without
killing humans, which is a bad to a slayer."

"Then he can definitely help." He put the keys in his pocket.
"You sure you can detox all of it?"

"I can at least get the greatest majority tonight. The rest I
may have to do it again. We'll see once I'm done." He nodded,
paying for his tab and taking his laptop to follow her to the car.
If he had to be detoxed to stop an apocalypse, so be it.

***

The same angel appeared to Xander that night. He looked up from
filing reports. "What?"

"The Key must have a guardian who knows the darkness she should not
approach. Otherwise she can destroy all."

"She knows that. That's one reason why they made her the sister
of a slayer."

"Even that darkness might lead her astray."

Xander shrugged. "If you want her to have a guardian, talk to
Dawn, not me. Buffy and I both guarded her for years. She's
doing what she wants to do of her own free will."

The angel nodded at that. "Still, the Father is worried."

Xander stared at him. "Seeing as I know, thanks to a vision, about
the whole apocalypse plan? Yeah, I'm not worried since he's taking
a vacation, Castiel." The angel slumped. "Is it the ones who
want this apocalypse?"

"No, it is not. A lot of the more moderate and modest, the lower
ones who know what sort of temper she could have, are worried."

Xander nodded. "Okay. I'll talk to her about it. I
won't promise because she's not dating right now."

The angel nodded. "Please. I saw that she had touched the
dark already."

"In her grief, she started to raise her mother but ended it herself."

The angel bowed his head. "Is she among us?"

"I'd hope so with the way she was a good mother. Her mother's
name was Joyce."

"I'll search her out and ask her opinion on the matter. Thank
you for telling her of our concerns." He disappeared.

Xander tapped out a text message to Dawn's phone. Because that
was a bit freaky. Even for them.

***

Jack looked up as someone invaded his office. "Sir, we need to
throw a White House dinner for the new ambassadors."

"Sir, this means an actual *dinner*. Invitations and all that,"
the chief of staff said.

Jack gave him a dirty look. "If I had a wife, I'd let you have
her to talk to. Otherwise, can it be a barbeque?"

"No."

"Crap."

"Nor can it have ribs or beer. Steaks might work though."

Jack shuddered. "I guess I'll have to dress up too?"

"Yes, sir." He loved to fluster his boss and the horrified look
on his face was spectacular. "You'll need a co-host or hostess as
well."

"Not like I'm married. Get Sheppard to do it. He's like
the wife in this 'ship."

"Yes, sir. Will you be bringing a date?"

"Who would I bring?"

"That blonde young woman you talk to now and then perhaps?"

"Buffy? She'd kill me."

"If that's what you two do in private, sir, then I have no need to know."
He smiled. "I'll start the planning for you." He fled, mentally
giggling at the shudders of horror. This would be their first White
House event so he'd have to get someone to tutor them both in etiquette.
Fortunately John's secretary was good at that.

Jack leaned over to look at his secretary's desk. "If you let
slip that I called him my wife, he'll paddle you," he called. He
got back to his paperwork of doom. Maybe it would block out the thought
of bringing Buffy as a date. She was cute but she might stake an
ambassador. He'd never hear the end of it.

***

Jon O'Neill looked around his training groups. "Good morning.
We're leaving this pretty city of nothing-for-normal-guys-to-do today.
We're going on a mission to an Ori controlled world to help a senior team,"
he said with a smirk. A few cheered. "I know, I'm bored too,
guys. So, gear up, double your ammo count for this trip, remember
you can shoot Priors and priests alike, and let's go. You have an
hour to gear up." They ran off.

"Wish I could go," John pouted.

"You'll have plenty of opportunity to get into trouble," Jon pointed
out. "Let the Council people run wild for a bit. I'm told they
hold yearly apocalypses."

John nodded. "So we've heard. We got briefed on some of
the earlier ones by Rosenburg. Did you train your students for those?"

"I don't know if I can train them to use a sword in case of emergency
but otherwise, yeah. I've been over the classification manuals they
gave Jack." John nodded at that. "Some of those things are
freakier than anything we've run into."

"I'm wondering how they decided to make one teenage girl deal with it
by herself," John admitted with a grimace. "At least now she's got
backup. Even if I'd want more than a few more superior girls with
me."

"Me too," Jon agreed. "Gotta gear up. Make sure they get
extra bullets. You always need them with the Ori." John nodded,
going to talk to the arms master while Jon got his own gear. It was
good to get back into action again. Now if only John could quit being
bored by politicians and go back to the real work he loved to do.

***

Dean got back to the US via Rosenburg Express, which was making him
queasy. She said she had sent him to where Sam was. So why
was he in Vegas? They had been in Iowa. It had been three weeks,
but that was a big step out of their usual habits. He noticed a slightly
familiar figure walking his way. "Hey," he said to the angel.
"Another bad thing came up?" he guessed.

"We have found that when the Key was made human, it was tied to the
line of a hunter who could protect it and keep it from being led to the
dark," he said, looking serious. "After having talked to the Key's
parent, we have decided it is safer if they are together now."

"So, my brother's now got a new friend," he said bluntly. The
angel nodded. "Where is he?"

"He is in the Palace," he said with a point. "We have arranged
things for them. That way they are able to brace each other and the
seals will not break." He smiled slightly. "They were quite
displeased but we released her mother to talk to her for a few minutes.
She understands and they both accepted it."

"It sounds like you married off my brother, dude. I should beat
your ass for that."

"You may go talk to him but what was done by heavenly decree cannot
be undone this time. Her mother is fierce, much more stubborn than
her daughters."

"At least it's a girl," Dean said dryly. "Though I have no idea
what you'd do if Sammy had to go gay."

"He would have adapted. Their lines were joined when the Key was
made human." He disappeared.

Dean hiked to the 'palace', which was a slightly sleazy motel.
Definitely their usual caliber of place to stay. "Winchester?" he
asked the desk clerk.

"They asked not to be disturbed, sir."

"I'm Sammy's big brother. I think he's expecting me to yell."

She nodded and found their room number, handing over a key.
"He said you would be joining them and would need an adjoining room."

"Thanks." He went up there. He decided to knock. Sam
opened the door. "The angels married you off?" he asked dryly, not
walking in there.

"Yeah, and it's a huge ass shock." He nodded, letting him inside.
Dawn waved from her spot on the bed.

"What the fuck?" Dean demanded.

Dawn looked up, smiling some. "Originally, before Glory got woken
up, I was a glowing green ball of energy. They made me the sister
of a slayer to protect me from a hell goddess."

"That's so Winchester luck," Dean decided, shaking his head. "So
you two are hitched?" She nodded. "We sure?"

"Yeah, we were apparently muchly drunk," she said dryly. "We woke
up the next morning naked, him already in me, and with a tape of the wedding
on loop on the VCR." She shrugged. "We *so* yelled."

"Yes we did," Sam agreed. "The manager himself came up to tell
us to quit yelling about being married and to go get it annulled."

Dean nodded. "Can we?"

"We thought about it for a few hours, and somehow ended up having fantastic
sex again," Dawn admitted. She put her laptop aside. "Heaven
is apparently a bit panicky."

"Apparently," Dean agreed. He sighed. "So, the hunting stuff?"

"Honestly, Dean, we need you guys in Cleveland. We're building
up to another super apocalypse this spring. Like the one in LA only
with higher demons instead of a mass of them. We're going all hands,
even the girls who wanted to be normal and only took enough training to
defend their families are going to be there." He nodded at that.
"So, how was my sister?"

"We worked well together," he admitted. "She wants something longer
term and I'm not ready yet but she understood that. So we played."
He shrugged. "It was good for both of us."

She smiled. "I don't care if Buffy has a one-night thing or a
real thing, Dean. As long as you're not like the panty point shithead
she dated in college." He shook his head. "Then it's fine with
us. We'd only beat you to death if you played with her."

"Xander too?" he asked dryly. "He seemed overprotective."

"Sometimes. Not over her though. She burned that bridge."
Dean nodded at that. "Willow too." She shrugged. "He's
already called to tell Sam that he expects me to be treated good.
Or else he'd blow him up and let the girls keep you this time." Dean
snickered. "He also said I had better be taking the pill religiously,
and I assured him I am."

"Thank God. The Impala's going to be strange enough with a woman
in it. There hasn't been one of those since our mother."

She grinned. "I can meet you guys in Cleveland if you want."

"Nah, you two probably need bonding time or other newlywed shit that
translates to sex."

Dawn smirked at Sam. "Didn't you say you were sore?"

"Yup. Those lessons you took off Xander's former girlfriend Anya
wrecked my back." Dean's mouth flopped open. "She was a former
vengeance demon that Xander dated. Nearly married her."

"She was all about the sex," Dawn agreed with a smile. Dean shuddered.
"She only wanted seven or eight orgasms a day."

"Unfortunately she told Dawn how to kill my back," Sam quipped.
He sat on the bed. "So, you've got the room next door. The
Impala is in a parking garage next door. We told Bobby, who choked.
A lot. We sent him pictures of us. He's still probably choking.
I met her mother. She seemed nice, but one of those backbones of
steel women." Dean nodded at that. "You got told?"

"The angel dude said that he brought her down to talk to you."
He shook his head.

"Oh, freakiness," Dawn warned. "If I do get pregnant it's your
dad being sent back. Mommy said that he's nagging and pushy so some
of the angels want him reborn sooner so he can't force his way back down
here. I suggested they ascend him like they did Cordelia. He
can help the Powers deal with the slayers and hunters."

"He said that they unfortunately can't do that without a higher order,"
Sam finished.

"Damn." Dean considered it. "Give yourself a few years,
Dawn?"

"So not a problem," she assured him, waving a hand in the air.
"Not my thing to be a mother yet. I'm much too wild." Sam blushed.
"What? You said you liked clubbing with me."

"I did until the two succuba tried to take you from me."

"They're some of Xander's former poker buddies," she said dryly.
Dean moaned, going to his room to bang his head against a wall. She
took a kiss. "Is your back better yet?"

"No, it's not," he said with a smile. "Go back to chatting with
your sister." She pulled her laptop back over and he went to talk
to his brother. Being married was freaky in a lot of ways.
It was definitely different than he had with Jess.

***

Dawn walked the boys into the house. "We're back!" she shouted.

"Good, we have 2 days," Faith called. She came out of the
office. "Giles was pushed down in the tube, whatever that is, and
broke his leg. He can't get here because he's in traction.
Brazil's house got attacked last night but they're handling it and will
have to be gotten magically if they're showing up. X's girls in Africa
can't get passports and visas."

Dawn waved a hand. "Can be dealt with. Otherwise?"

"B can't get back. Germany has people who wanted to talk too much
about stuff."

"City Council is having a panicy girl fit. Homeland here is having
a panic attack too. They're both in denial it'll be bad. X
can't get through to either of the higher ups we know."

Dawn nodded. "Let me handle that first." She went to DC.
The Homeland people she knew were there. They never left their offices.
"General Hammond," she said with a smile.

"Miss Summers. An update on what's going to happen in Cleveland
soon?"

"Some of your people are ignoring it in finest Sunnydale fashion.
We might need some evacuating or keeping normals inside duties and they're
ignoring it."

"I can fix that."

"Some of our people are being magiced in since some of yours wouldn't
let them enter legally."

"Agreed."

"It's in two days."

"I'll deal with the locals for you today." She smiled. "Let
me know if you need more help."

"I will. X tried to call the higher ups. Can't get through."

"That'll stop," he assured her. She beamed a happy smile and left.
He called the head of Homeland Security to his office. He was technically
the guy's boss. "Cleveland is having an apocalypse in two days."

"We don't believe in such things."

"Then you're fired," George said simply. The man gaped.
He stared at him. "You're risking an entire city. I'm going
to let them sue you." He stood up. "Let me talk to the others
who need to know. I'll expect your forms on my desk by the end of
the day. Gladys," he called to his secretary. She nodded.
"He's fired." He walked out, heading to the Secret Service office.
If there was a mass conspiracy, they probably weren't as involved.
He showed his ID. "Is the director in?"

"Yes, Sir." She called and got him up there.

He walked into the office with a smile. "Cleveland's having an
apocalypse in two days. Apparently there's a move by our government
to not care."

"Shit," he muttered. "Okay, I'll get with that."

"For some reason, the president's and vice president's phones haven't
been working. I've heard that from a few sources now."

He stared at him. "That'll stop too."

"Thank you." He smiled. "Call your office there?"

"Definitely and I'll get someone who can lead a problem if need be."
He made a call to route an agent he knew could handle it that way.
The general left, leaving him to shudder in peace and quiet. This
was so bad and much too close to DC.